How 6 Books Can Help You Better Understand Life in the Digital Age

We talk a lot about reading as a tool for growth and self-exploration, but did you know that our founder and CEO, Emma, is an intense bookworm? She can plow through a book a day sometimes, and she keeps careful notes on all the books she reads. We thought it would be nice to do a series of blog posts on some of the books Emma has read in the last few years. 

In this installment, Emma introduces us to some of the books that gave her insight into digital wellness, living more productively with technology, and tapping into her creativity in a world full of distractions. Take a peek!

1. Bored and Brilliant: How Spacing Out Can Unlock Your Most Productive & Creative Self, by Manoush Zomorodi.

Technology is designed to keep us constantly distracted, but that constant distraction also keeps us from engaging with our own ideas. In this book, Manoush Zomorodi explores how allowing ourselves to be bored for a while can trigger some of our best ideas yet.

Emma’s Notes: This is probably our most linked book in the Myrth blog. I loved this book and the tips she shares. It led to me rethinking my whole approach to taking photos, how I see boredom, and the amount of time I literally spend staring out the window. The phone has taken away those in-between times and while many others discuss this, I think Zomorodi does a wonderful job of framing it. 

2. Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World, by Cal Newport.

Cal Newport has long been at the forefront of criticizing the way technology gives us constant distractions and interrupts our best work. In this book, he dives deeper into how to avoid those distractions by cutting out some parts of the technological hubbub altogether.

Emma’s Notes: My years as a nomad and the constant moving has solidified me as a minimalist. I have a strong belief that less is more and while Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport is an essential read for anyone wanting to understand Digital Wellness further, I don’t fully buy into his methods. I encourage you to read the book and try the exercise he talks you through, but I approach digital minimalism slightly differently and still keep a number of apps (organized like crazy) on my phone and use my phone more than most, in what I consider a healthy way or a way to encourage my own Digital Flourishing. 

3. Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World, by Cal Newport.

This book is a modern classic in the productivity world, and it explores how we can build spaces in our lives for the kind of intense, focused, flow-state work that is crucial to having our best ideas and following through on them.

Emma’s Notes: I thought this was important to include in digital wellness, because for Myrth digital wellness is all about healthy lifestyles in a digital age, and what is more distracting than those digital age gidgets and gadgets. While we have talked about how these tools can help, let’s be honest they are mostly a distraction. I loved Cal Newport’s take on deep work and getting into the flow. To be honest, just like Myrth’s head writer Lauren, I have found Focusmate and the accountability it builds helps me get into the flow state and do deep work. But this is only because, as Newport points out, I also leave lots of time for mind-wandering and avoid the term busy whenever possible. 

4. Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life, by Nir Eyal.

Are you sensing a theme here yet? Nir Eyal takes the position in this book that swearing off our devices entirely isn’t the solution because abstinence just makes us want them more. Instead, he explores different ways to channel technology into its appropriate spheres without letting it take over.

Emma’s Notes: Nir Eyal is one of the “founding fathers” of digital wellness, although he also was one of the teachers who built the problem to begin with. In his follow up book, I think he is trying to redeem himself. This largely takes the form of giving us ways to hack back our devices in ways their makers - including those advised by Eyal - never intended. He talks a lot about how our technology should serve us, not the other way around. Which is a fundamental belief here at Myrth too. It also goes deeper than that and is a reason why we promote self-awareness and personal growth: unless we deal with the root causes of our distraction, we’ll continue to find ways to distract ourselves. 

5. Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other, by Sherry Turkle.

Technology has fostered the illusion of connectedness and companionship. In this book, Sherry Turkle looks at the modern paradox of how we are more “connected” than ever while feeling lonelier than ever.

Emma’s Notes: Before reading this book I had my own definition for alone together and it was my favorite way of spending time. As an introvert, I would love to be in a cafe working or doing my own thing but with other people around - alone together. But Turkle means something entirely different. She talks about how “mobile technology has made each of us “pausable.” And when we are together with our phones present we are all essentially alone and not forming bonds. She also makes one of my favorite points in all of digital wellness debate and discussion:

“Talking about addiction subverts our best thinking because it suggests that if there are problems, there is only one solution. To combat addiction, you have to discard the addicting substance. But we are not going to “get rid” of the Internet. We will not go “cold turkey” or forbid cell phones to our children. We are not going to stop the music or go back to television as the family hearth”. 

6. 24/6: Giving up Screens One Day a Week to Get More Time, Creativity, and Connection, by Tiffany Shlain.

Thanks to mobile phones, tablets, and laptops, many of us have gotten used to being constantly in contact with a whole host of people. In this book, Tiffany Shlain explores what it means to turn off the devices one day a week and connect more deeply with yourself and others in the physical world.

Emma’s Notes: I will admit that I loved Shlain’s book but I did not adopt the habit of taking one day off a week for a tech sabbath. I have my own means of reducing screen time (monitoring and digital detoxes). With that said, I think it is a great idea, especially for families. The way Tiffany has created ritual and meaning into her family’s day off is just wonderful. And this is one of my favorite quotes from the book and something I think about a lot: “But the big lesson that we didn’t yet know then, one I feel deeply now, is that connecting broadly is meaningless unless we also connect deeply”. This is why, as I develop the MyMoai app, I want it to promote quality over quantity for relationships. 

To see all the books that Emma has read visit her curated booklist or for our more extensive book list on understanding life in the digital age check out our bookshop here.

Happy Reading!

Did we miss any books? Would you recommend other books to read for better understanding life in the digital age? Have you read any of the books listed above?

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